THE COAST: A Journey Down the Atlantic...

THE COAST: A Journey Down the Atlantic Shore by Joseph J. Thorndike (St. Martin’s Press: $12.95; 233 pp., illustrated). Thorndike walked, drove and sailed from northern Maine to the Florida Keys for this pleasant travelogue. He found he could gain access to a dismayingly small portion of the coast, as people have carved the shore into private enclaves with no trespassing signs. Many of these luxurious communities were built on shifting sands that never should have been developed: The Army Corps of Engineers has spent tens of millions of dollars in unsuccessful efforts to stabilize the shore of northern New Jersey.